Date: 5/9/26 3:21 am From: Pam DeNeve (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Re: BBS and Merlin
Ah yes....I love it when beginning birders ask how you know the songs and calls. " You must use Merlin". I began birding 33 years ago and we actually walked quietly, looking, and listening. You locate the sound and find the prize. I'm surprised how technology now has shaped the birders behavior. When I led a birdwalk recently, while we walked and most of the folks had their phones pointed up above their heads looking at the screen constantly.
I thought it was a very different way to bird. I was telling them what they were hearing and of course tried to locate.
My personal preference is to just be present, look, and listen. Maybe the old-fashioned way of birding before cell phones, Ebird, and Merlin was Mindful Birding.
Just call me old. I've always been an old soul.
Pam DeNeve
Winston-Salem
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From: <carolinabirds-request...> <carolinabirds-request...> on behalf of scompton1251 <scompton1251...>
Sent: Friday, May 8, 2026 2:43:21 PM
To: <carolinabirds...> <carolinabirds...>
Subject: BBS and Merlin
Just got my BBS packet. This will be my 35th year or so as a surveyor. New rule: NO Merlin.
Surveyors are not to use Merlin to locate or identify birds.
